Stewart Downing is closing in on a return to home-town side Middlesbrough after the Championship club agreed a deal of around £5 million with West Ham for the winger.

West Ham have given Downing, 31 next week, permission to speak to Middlesbrough and the player is now set to have a medical examination on Thursday before meeting Steve Gibson, the Boro chairman, to sign a reported five-year contract.

It is expected he will then fly to Spain to join the Middlesbrough squad at their Marbella training camp. He could make his first Middlesbrough appearance in six years in Saturday's friendly in Marbella.

Home-town boy: Stewart Downing in action for Middlesbrough in 2006

Downing, capped 35 times by England, left the Riverside for Aston Villa in July 2009, before moving on to Liverpool.

He has been with West Ham since 2013 and made 37 Premier League appearances for the Londoners last season, with his early-season performances earning him an England recall in November.